Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.
Colossians 3:18-25 NLTMasters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.
Colossians 4:1 NLT
All our relationships are transformed when we love Jesus. Marriages change because Jesus is in the center. We submit to each other because Jesus served us and submitted His will to the will of the Father. We love sacrificially because that is the love of Christ. Child and parent relationships change because of Jesus—there is obedience and understanding, even when it is hard. How we work and lead also changes because we love our crucified and risen Lord; we work hard because we follow Him.
These verses were written into a particular culture, but they have timeless principles. Christianity does not export a superior culture; it values cultures as good expressions of the humanity God created. The universal truths of Christ will look culturally different in different times and cultures. Paul was speaking to three cultures at once: Jewish, Greek, and Roman. In Paul’s day, society was very tiered: men were the highest, with women, children, and slaves all on a lower level. He showed how Christianity made sense and is good in any culture. But he also showed how the gospel transcends and subverts cultures: he never condoned slavery, and he pointed to the fact that there is a Master in heaven (who has set the captives free through His sacrifice). He also subverts the thinking in his day about wives and children being “lower”—all relationships are viewed in light of Christ, who loves us all and taught us to call each other brothers and sisters with one Father.
Living out these verses is the hard part. The gospel is still transcending and subverting our cultural understanding of relationships. In our culture the biggest relationship we misunderstand is the relationship with ourselves. Can we—in a culture that tell us to do whatever we want—live like we have a Master? Can we submit—in a world that says the most important desires are our own? Can we love like Jesus?
